Human right should (always) have priority over national national interests. But this is often times not the case. Many governments in the world are top down authoritarian governments who prioritize their health and existence over the rights and interests of their citizens.
These repressive governments are in a position to pass and enforce laws to protect and advance their interests. In this article titled “Another woman sentenced to 45-year jail term in Saudi Arabia for using Twitter” a woman is jailed for causing “public unrest” and destabilizing civil and national security”. She was not judged on the truthfulness or accuracy of her actions. Rather she was judged on how her actions affected (harmed) the government.
Mainland China is well known for these types of laws where they make any sort of act or speech against the government a crime. The actions or speech aren’t judged on their truthfulness or accuracy. Rather they are judged on how they affect the government. The Uighur Muslim are a victim of their government’s abuses. As are the people of Taiwan who are living under their own government but being threatened by Mainland China in violation of their right to determine their own fate.
Russia’s war with Ukraine is another flagrant example of prioritizing national interest over human rights.
But even democratic governments like the USA are not immune to human rights violations in order to advance their national interests.
Many of these governments can only survive through force and coercion. They can’t survive a free flow of information. Because if the citizens have an opportunity to learn the truth and organize, they would be a force that the government can’t contain. It would mean the death of that government and the loss of economic and political power for those who support such governments.
Governments should represent the will of the people rather than people being forced to conform to the will of the government. To do otherwise is a crime against it’s citizens. The best way for people to protect their rights is through the free flow of accurate information.